Phytoseiidae mites associated with Hevea spp. from the Amazon region: a hidden diversity under the canopy of native trees

Author(s)

Nuvoloni, Felipe Micali ^[1] ; Lofego, Antonio Carlos ^[2] ; Rezende, Jose Marcos ^[1] ; Fazzio Feres, Reinaldo Jose ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Inst Biociencias Letras & Ciencias Exatas, Programa Posgrad Biol Anim, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Inst Biociencias Letras & Ciencias Exatas, Dept Zool & Bot, BR-15054000 Sao Jose Do Rio Preto, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Review article
• Source: SYSTEMATICS AND BIODIVERSITY; v. 13, n. 2, p. 182-206, MAR 4 2015.
• Web of Science Citations: 9

Abstract

Despite the Amazon Forest being the largest tropical forest in the world, and cradle of rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis), no studies have aimed to report the occurrence of mites associated with native trees from this ecosystem. Our survey investigates the phytoseiid mites associated with five species of native rubber trees from nine sites of the Amazon Forest, and also presents a major review of phytoseiid species from natural vegetation in Brazil. We found a total of 1305 mites, belonging to 30 species, of which seven were new to science, Amblydromalus akiri sp. nov., Amblyseius chicomendesi sp. nov., Amblyseius duckei sp. nov., Amblyseius manauara sp. nov., Iphiseiodes katukina sp. nov., Iphiseiodes raucuara sp. nov. and Typhlodromips igapo sp. nov.; beyond two new records for Brazil, Iphiseiodes kamahorae and Amblyseius martus. Our results emphasize the importance of Amazon native trees as an unexplored source of predator mites, which in turn may be further studied as biological control agents of pest mites on rubber trees. The impressive diversity, endemism and rate of new species found highlight the importance of studies on arthropod communities associated with the Amazon vegetation. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/19890-0 - Taxonomic revision of the species of Daidalotarsonemus de León (Acari: Tarsonemidae), phylogenetic analysis with morphological and molecular characters, and bioecological evaluation
• Grantee: José Marcos Rezende
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 10/19935-1 - Influence of geographic distribution in the structural pattern of the mite community on rubber trees(Hevea brasiliensis MUELL ARG. Euphorbiaceae) in Brazil.
• Grantee: Felipe Micali Nuvoloni
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate